A Family’s Choice (S1 Alt End And S2 Alt Begin)
by Marialine
Summary: What if, despite of Ashoka being Fulcrum, most of the crew didn’t want to join the whole Rebellion? What if they just wanted to be allies with them to cause trouble for the Empire but, not be part of them? A start of my AU, Star Wars Rebels Family AU. One-shot.


**A/N Okay, my second SWR Fanfic. Super excited on this since it's me starting my SWR Family AU. Hope you guys like it!**

**X**

"Thank you for rescuing us, Ashoka," Hera said to the Jedi Master with a smile, still not letting go of what had happened weeks ago. "If it weren't for you and the rest of the Rebellion, we wouldn't have gotten away from the Empire's clutches. Especially after the Inquisitor was killed in that explosion…"

"It was no burden for us, Captain," Ashoka returned her smile. "I'm just glad we were able to rescue you all, especially Kanan and Ezra, from Mustafar,"

"I'll just be glad that we're helping you and the Phoenix Squadron take down the Empire," Hera folded her arms. "It's getting harder and harder to anticipate their moves, and we could use all the help we can get,"

"I agree, but…" Ashoka's smile faltered as her eyebrows seemed to furrow. "…I don't think the rest of your crew would agree to your opinion,"

Hera was confused. They've been staying with the Rebellion Fleet for at least two weeks now. They've helped them with a lot of things, including getting Ashoka's old clone friend Rex. What was her crew not telling her?

"What are you talking about, Ashoka?"

"Well…" Ashoka sighed. "I've been observing your crew members' behavior around me and the rest of the Rebel Fleet, but not all are as positive as you'd think, Hera. Even Kanan doesn't seem to have a positive feedback about the fleet,"

"Kanan too? I thought it'd be just Zeb, Sabine, Ezra, and Chopper," Hera frowned. "How have they been behaving when I'm not around?"

"Kanan doesn't seem happy to be working with a large group, especially with Captain Rex," Ashoka explained. "Though I should be considerate with Kanan. Order 66 was harsh and cruel, especially with the clones turning against their Jedi. Kanan was most likely to be 15 when that happened. He was just about Ezra's age when he saw them shoot Depa down in a second,"

"Okay… Kanan has his reasons, I guess," Hera sighed.

"Lasats are territorial creatures," Ashoka went on. "As a territorial being, Zeb is very cautious towards us. Sure, it was easy to let him adjust to you, Kanan and Chopper when you found him since you were only two people and a droid, and it was easy to adjust for him when Sabine came and then Ezra came since it was an easy one-by-one recruitment, but when you joined us, Zeb had a difficult time adjusting to so many people at the same time. To my conclusion, he is indeed uncomfortable with us,"

"Well, Zeb's never been the easiest one to open up to new company, I'll give you that," Hera nodded in understanding. "And I think I know why Chopper would dislike the fleet. He gets jealous of newer and shinier droids around all too easily,"

"Correct," Ashoka gave a small smile.

"What about Sabine? I mean, sure, she was the first to be suspicious of you as Fulcrum, but…"

"That is true, but there is so much more than that," Ashoka interrupted. "She is still suspicious of me even if she knows who I am. Many here are suspicious of her as well. Since she is Mandalorian, some mistaken her for… an Imperial Mando Spy, especially since she's part of Clan Wren, a powerful Mandalorian Clan of Mandalor. She also seems to dislike the fact that she doesn't get to blow many things up into color, or at least use her old explosives from your previous missions,"

"That DOES sounds like Sabine," Hera chuckled, ignoring the first reason since it was Sabine's very personal issue, and she didn't want to be too nosy. "How about Ezra?"

"Same problem as when you took him in," Ashoka shrugged. "Living in the streets for 8 years was rough for him. He barely trusts any of you to reveal his family and personal secrets. How much more to an entire fleet? Ezra just needs time, but I have a feeling that even after a couple of months, he has not open up much to any of you?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Hera looked down with a sigh, pondering over what she was just told. Her crew was hiding the fact that they weren't very comfortable working for and with the Rebellion Fleet, but why did they have to hide it from her?

"Maybe you should go and talk to them, Captain," Ashoka gently suggested. "It may help you decide whether to stay or leave,"

With that, she left. Wherever she went off to, Hera would never know. The Twi'lek would have been too busy in her thoughts to know anyway.

X

The Specters of the Ghost Crew gathered in the common room. Hera had called them earlier, and by the tone of her voice, she didn't seem too happy.

"Did we do something wrong?" Ezra asked, turning to Kanan for an explanation.

"I… I'm not really sure," Kanan's eyebrows furrowed in worry and anxiety.

"Is it because of the explosion I did two missions ago?" Sabine twisted her lips in a frown. "I know that I wasn't suppose to blow the Ties up since it was one of our escape routes, but I had no choice!"

"Maybe it's when Kanan got into a big fight with Rex about next week's mission," Zeb gave a chuckle, with Chopper cackling in agreement.

"Hey!" Kanan frowned. "To be fair, Rex was trying to control how I teach Ezra, and you know how I don't like people controlling what I can do all on my own,"

"It could be either of us," Ezra pointed out. "but why all of us at the same time? There must be something else that Hera found out. Something we did together,"

"But what could it be?" Sabine wondered.

"Something you were trying to hide," the five, even Chopper, jumped and turned to see Hera appear from the cockpit. "I don't know why you would hide something like this, but that's the reason why I called you all here,"

"What's going on, Hera?" Kanan questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what I would like to ask you. All of you," Hera leaned against the wall, her arms crossed against her chest. "Be honest with me; what are your opinions on Phoenix Squadron and the rest of the Rebel Fleet?"

The crew fell silent as realization dawned upon them; Hera had found out.

It was a good 10 minutes when the Twi'lek realized that she wasn't getting anything from them, so she sighed, rubbing the temples of her forehead as she shook her head.

"Alright, since no one's going to talk, I'll have to do a one-on-one interrogation," she then turned to their leader. "Kanan, be honest. What do you think of the Rebel Fleet and the Phoenix Squadron?"

This question took the Jedi off-guard. He began to stutter, scratching the back of his neck as he bit his bottom lip.

"I, um…" he tried to reconstruct his words to answer, but in the end, he gave up with a mere sigh. "Fine. You got me. Hera, please don't be mad, but… I'm not comfortable with the Rebel Fleet. In fact, neither of us are,"

"It's true," Sabine agreed. "It was much more fun when it was just the 6 of us. You know, when we took bounties for credits,"

"It was fun with Fleet at first," Zeb confessed. "but then things started to get more serious and… well…"

"Let's just say Commander Sato's orders are sounding a little too risky," Ezra finished. "Even for me,"

"WUP WUP WUP-WUP-WUP-WUP-WUP!" Chopper beeped in agreement, with his robotic arms flailing around.

"What we're trying to say is that we don't want to be the cause of the Rebellion's demise," Kanan concluded. "Commander Sato, Ashoka, The Phoenix Squadron… everyone in the Rebellion has worked so hard to keep each other safe while taking down the Empire. We're just… not ready,"

Hera was speechless. She thought her crew just had their separate reasons to hate the Rebel Fleet, but apparently, she was wrong.

"Why… Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"How could we, Hera?" Ezra looked away in shame. "You were so excited to officially be a part of the Rebellion that we… we couldn't destroy your excitement,"

"Yeah, it seemed pretty selfish of us to do so," Sabine nodded.

"So we just shut ourselves up," Zeb added, folding his arms.

"We're sorry, Hera," Kanan placed a hand on the Twi'lek's shoulder. "Look, I know that you still want to join the Rebel Fleet, so we won't be spoiling your chance. Just… just drop us off at the nearest planet, and we'll be out of your way,"

"Now, hang on a minute," Hera took a step back. "You'd leave the team… to let me keep joining the Rebellion?"

"We know that we aren't ready to be full-on Rebels, so might as well," Sabine shrugged. "We know that you're an amazing pilot, so the Rebellion's going to need you,"

Hera shook her head. "Look, I know that it's hard to trust yourselves right now, especially since we have a whole Rebel Fleet to take care of, but this doesn't mean we need to split. We started this team as a family, and families don't leave each other behind. If majority of you don't feel like you can serve the Rebel Fleet in the way that they expect us to then we'll all leave. Together,"

"Together?" Ezra tilted his head. "As in, you're coming with us?"

"We're a family, and if at least one of you are out then the whole Ghost and it's crew will be out too," Hera smiled.

"Hera, you don't have to if you don't want to," Zeb spoke up, sounding a little guilty.

"Yeah, Hera," Ezra agreed with the Lasat as he frowned. "we don't want to stop you from doing what we know is right,"

"This IS right, Ezra," Hera placed a hand on the blunette's shoulder. "I'm not going to backstab the team and family I've worked with for so long for a Rebellion Fleet that we've only been working with for just a few weeks,"

"Really?" Sabine looked up at her with hopeful eyes.

"Really," Hera gave a nod. "Now, all in favor for leaving the Rebellion Fleet to cause trouble for the Empire in our own style, raise your hand,"

There was no hesitation for four hands to immediately rise up. Chopper raised both of his metal hands, jumping in enthusiasm. Hera giggled.

"That's a winning vote then," she grinned with a little laugh.

X

"The Ghost and it's crew are leaving the Rebellion?" Ashoka's eyes widened slightly, but she recovered quite quickly since she kinda expected it.

"That is the final word of Captain Syndulla," Commander Sato spoke with a sigh. "I did not want to let them go, but Captain Syndulla said that she and her crew had made a choice. For the safety of the Rebellion,"

"Oh, I see," Ashoka smiled and nodded. "Have they left yet? I would like to have a final word with them,"

"Captain Rex is at the docking bay to bid the crew farewell," Sato reported. "They leave in a few minutes,"

"Thank you, Commander Sato," Ashoka then rushed to the docking bay, where she found Rex talking with the Specters of the Ghost crew.

"Honestly, I'm going to miss ya, kid," Rex grinned, ruffling Ezra's hair before turning to the others. "Gonna miss working with all of ya. Kanan less,"

"We're going to miss you too." Kanan rolled his eyes with a slight glare at the clone. "Me being less than the rest,"

"I have a feeling things will a little more peaceful soon," Ashoka chuckled as she joined the group. "Though I will truly miss you all. Where will you go now?"

"Just here, there and everywhere," Sabine shrugged.

"Above Lothal at times," Ezra added with a smile.

"Going on chaotic and eventful supply runs," Zeb snickered.

"But whenever you need help, we'll still be there for you," Hera reassured them. "Just give us a call, and we'll be there,"

"And if you need anything, we'll be there to aid you as well," Ashoka gave a small bow. "Goodbye, Captain Syndulla. Until we meet again,"

"Until we meet again, Fulcrum," Hera winked at her.

Ashoka was slightly taken back, but she then recovered with a giggle. "And indeed we will meet. May the Force be with you,"

"Always," Kanan nodded then the six Specters turned to leave.

A few minutes later, Ashoka and Rex looked out the window to see the Ghost freighter take it's leave. They waved goodbye as it turned its direction before proceeding into hyperspace, getting away as far away as possible.

_But for how long can they stay away from the Rebellion Fleet…?_

**X**

**How is it? You guys want a sequel?**


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